Give Me A Better Cause To Lead
by forkinthetoaster
Summary: AU- during OotP- The future isn’t set in stone. Different causes lead to different effects. When you lose everything what better person to go to, than one who shares both your pain and your fate? Can Hogwarts handle two black-haired, orphaned heroes?
1. Drown In The Fear

Chapter 1: Drown In the Fear

Disclaimer: I obviously don't own Danny Phantom or Harry Potter

"Too weak to escape and you're too late to save them"

-BOOM-

Even in his sleep Daniel Fenton can't escape the truth. His family gone, dead- his fault. But he promised them that he would never turn into the horrible creature that ended not only the lives of his family and friends but effectively ended his as well. Or so he thought…

-beep-

-beep-

-be---- SMASH

"I'm up okay?!?!?!?!?"

'Ugh, I should be more careful, Valerie might walk in.' thought Danny as he got dressed for another, in his opinion, pointless day of living.

He had given up on school, at least for a while- he couldn't handle all the whispers and sympathetic glances. It had been a week, the longest week of his life. The funerals were fast- there was nothing left to bury. Everything he ever cared about gone in the blink of an eye, and it was his fault. The only thing stopping Danny from handing Vlad his parents will, stating that he was to live with Vlad, was a promise. That promise kept him here at Valerie's house, where he was about to leave to go for a walk in the park. He knew he couldn't stay with her much longer, Vlad was probably already looking up ways to adopt him and raise him to be his evil apprentice. Danny was losing faith in himself as he sat in Sam's tree when suddenly

-CRACK-

Startled, Danny fell out of the tree, and landed at the feet of a strange looking old man with a very long beard and half-moon spectacles who was wearing rather brightly colored robes along with a matching pointed hat.

"Ah, Daniel Fenton or should I say Phantom? A pleasure to finally meet you- are you alright?"

A dazed Danny was pulling himself to his feet.

"Who are you and how do you know my secret?" Danny demanded

"Oh I'm sorry, how rude of me, I'm Albus Dumbledore and I am headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I'm here to deliver your acceptance letter. Oh and I offer my condolences for your terrible loss Daniel."

Danny cringed at the mention of his dead loved ones- his fault. "What?"

"Ah, you see Daniel-"

"Call me Danny"

"Well Danny, you see, I'm a wizard and you are as well. I'm here to inform you of your acceptance to my school, Hogwarts where you may learn to develop your skills-"

"What… I'm a wizard?!? He said slowly "You expect me to believe this?" scoffed Danny

"Ghosts exist, do they not? Why is it so crazy that magic also exists?"

'He's got a point, might as well play along' thought Danny

"Let's pretend for a second that 'magic' exists. Prove it."

'I really wish people would leave me alone nobody really understands what I'm going through. I not only lost all my loved ones but it was technically my fault and now I have to stop myself from becoming evil. I don't need to deal with practical jokers as well' thought Danny

"What would you like me to do?"

"Any chance you can bring the dead back to life?" questioned Danny sarcastically

"I'm sorry Danny but I cannot do that, however it appears that the tree behind you believes my story."

"What are you talking ab-" Danny muttered as he turned around only to see Sam's tree on fire.

"PUT IT OUT!" screamed Danny

"It was only an illusion, the tree is fine, see, nothing to worry about?" and sure enough there was no fire and no sign that there ever had been one.

"Fine I believe you now." Danny sighed "But even if I agree to go to your magic school I have no money to pay tuition."

"You don't need to pay tuition to attend Hogwarts." Replied Dumbledore cheerfully

"Where is this school? You don't sound American."

"The school itself is in Scotland, but most students arrive there by taking the Hogwarts Express from Kings Cross Station in London."

"I can't afford to get to London either." sighed Danny; they had been over this before. After his parents deaths the money from the research grants had stopped, all Danny had was Fenton Works and the money his parents had saved- which wasn't much.

"Don't worry about transportation, I have that covered"

"Fine, can I have a day to think about this?"

"Absolutely, if you accept meet me here at this time tomorrow with everything you want to take with you."

* * *

The next day…

'I guess I should accept, this could be just the way to keep my promise and escape from Vlad and my future. Valerie can handle the ghosts here, right? But what should I tell her? I can't just disappear, no matter how much I wish I could.' Thought Danny as he weighed his options, neither of which particularly appealed to him:

Go to Vlad's and possibly become the worst evil the world has ever faced

Go to "Hogwarts" and learn magic

Isn't life just wonderful?

'Hogwarts it is.' thought Danny as he packed all his belongings into his purple backpack. He didn't want to take much; all he packed was a few pairs of pants, sneakers and shirts, a couple of Fenton thermoses, and a picture of him with his family and friends- from a much happier time. Now all he had to do was write a note to Valerie explaining his absence and thank her and her father for taking him in.

Dear Valerie and Mr. Gray,

Thank you so much for taking me in, I'll never be able to thank you enough. I was offered a place at a boarding school in England after they heard about my situation. I have to accept immediately, or forfeit my spot, so this is goodbye. Once again thanks, I'll try to keep in touch.

-Danny

With that done Danny headed out to meet Dumbledore at the park, and with any luck keep his promise.

* * *

"Ah, Danny, I thought you would show up. Ready to go?"

"As I'll ever be." muttered Danny "How are we getting there?"

"Apparition of course!" replied Dumbledore brightly

"What?"

"We're basically 'teleporting' there. You may feel some discomfort for a short while, but it's nothing to worry about. Now, please grab my arm, don't let go, and we'll be off."

"Alright…" replied Danny uncertainly, as he grabbed the old man's arm. Almost immediately the world blacked out and Danny got the unpleasant feeling of being pressed down upon from all sides. Just as soon as it started though, it ended and Danny's brain, after a few seconds of unscrambling itself, registered he was now on average looking British street, in front of number's 11 and 13 Grimmauld Place.


	2. Make A Saint Of Me

Chapter 2: Make a Saint of Me

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A/N: **DO NOT SCROLL DOWN PLEASE READ THIS A/N! **Hey all, I rewrote the first chapter due to its suckishness, so please go read that. Also I think we needed some back-story here since I kind of just threw you into the story so here's the back-story chapter. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I obviously don't own Danny Phantom or Harry Potter. If I did I wouldn't be writing fanfiction would I?

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_6 days ago, in a magical castle located somewhere in Scotland-_

Dumbledore was writing to Hagrid to check how his mission of recruiting giants was going, when suddenly in a flash of blue light, his old friend Clockwork appeared in his office with a grave look on his face.

"Ah, Clockwork, I presume you come bearing no good news? You never do." Dumbledore implored calmly, having been well practiced at hiding his surprise- even to the most powerful of ghosts.

"I'm afraid you're right as always Dumbledore. I have something I need to ask of you. You see I have been hiding something from you for many years. A young man named Daniel Fenton is a wizard. I made it so no one ever found out, for he was destined for something greater. You may know him better as Danny Phantom, protector of Amity Park. The boy is half ghost ,and this never would have happened if he came to Hogwarts at age 11."

"I see." Of course Dumbledore had heard of the ghost protector of the small town in America, Dumbledore liked to stay on top of things. "So what do you need Clockwork?"

"Well you see Dumbledore; an elaborate series of events caused the deaths of this boy's entire family and closest friends. If this future had continued it would have caused the boy to become the most evil and powerful ghost in existence. He would have destroyed the world, so I needed to stop him. I tried to warn him of his future but his future self had other plans. His future self caused the events to play out similarly to how they did before I intervened, however Danny now knows the final events that led up to his becoming evil and wants to prevent them."

"So you want me to help him do this?"

"Perceptive as always Dumbledore, yes I need you to accept him to Hogwarts. I believe the atmosphere here may help him to heal and overcome his problems. He believes that the incident is his fault and is having trouble dealing with it."

"Of course I'll take him in Clockwork, when should I go to visit?" Dumbledore wanted to help this Danny as much as he could, for he could relate to feeling at fault for the death of a loved one.

"Thank you Dumbledore, I think you should give him a few days so he can attend the funerals and come out of shock. Oh, and he will need a place to stay, perhaps with the Weaslys at headquarters?"

"Absolutely Clockwork, oh and before you leave, would you like a lemon drop?"

"No thank you Dumbledore, I have other business to attend to. Goodbye"

'Well this should be interesting, an orphaned, half- ghost, wizard.' Thought Dumbledore as he sat down to complete his letter.


	3. All the Smiles That Are Ever Gonna Haunt

Chapter 3: All the Smiles That Are Ever Gonna Haunt Me

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**A/N: I am SO sorry for not updating! My life was for the crazy past two weeks, but you don't really care, you just need me to feed your fanfiction addiction (unintentional rhyme). And that is what I will do. Please enjoy this chapter and leave me some freakin reviews, it's easy, I PROMISE (if you review I'll... spare your life. Convinced yet?)**

**P.S. Once someone figures out where all the titles are from, I'll need to add that to the disclaimer. That translates to: have fun figuring out where my chapter titles are from.**

**Disclaimer: Yes, Butch Hartman and J.K. Rowling wrote a crossover fanfiction together and I am their ghost writer (note the sarcasm)**

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"Some discomfort?" groaned Danny for he was still recovering from the journey.

Dumbledore chose to ignore his sarcastic comment, as he took out what looked to Danny like a silver lighter, and flicked it. Immediately a light from one of the streetlamps went out. Dumbledore repeated this process until the whole street was dark.

"You did that, didn't you" said Danny, it wasn't a question.

"Yes, I did, It wouldn't do for anyone to see what I'm about to show you. Now read this paper and memorize what it says." stated Dumbledore as he passed Danny a small slip of parchment

Just as Danny was wondering how he was supposed to read the paper if all the lights just went out, Dumbledore pulled out a long piece of wood, which Danny figured must be his wand (he is a wizard), and muttered a quick "Lumos". Instantly the tip of the wand lit up and Danny, thinking he ought to get used to this sort of thing, read the paper:

_The Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix may be found at number twelve, Grimmauld Place, London._

"WE'RE in London?," exclaimed Danny

"Yes we are, but that's not important right now. Read it again."

Danny took a second look deciding to keep his questions for later to humor the old man. However as Danny looked up and scanned the street for number 12, he realized that it was missing.

"There is no number twelve." Danny stated after he was quite sure that he had not accidently skipped over it.

"Are you sure? Look again and think about what you've just memorized." replied Dumbledore as he took out his wand and set fire to the piece of paper that he had motioned for Danny to pass to him.

As Danny did this he saw a door appear between numbers eleven and thirteen, soon followed by a whole other house.

Nobody other than Danny and Dumbledore seemed to realize anything had changed. Danny thought of asking the obvious question (Didn't anyone else notice that?), but figuring he would get the obvious answer he just followed Dumbledore up the steps of the house and through the battered and worn black door. He noticed that this door seemed to have many locks and required magic to enter.

'I wonder what's up with all the security and secrecy.' thought Danny as the door was closing behind them.

Danny was about to use his "scary eyes" to see a little better in the almost total darkness of the hallway he now found himself in, but Dumbledore used his wand to light a few of the fixtures mounted on the walls. Being able to see slightly better Danny realized that the place reminded him of an abandoned building falling into disrepair, or perhaps a house that had just been ransacked by thieves, thieves who seemed to have not deemed anything worth taking. Ancient and worn portraits hanging on the walls and peeling wallpaper helped lead to this conclusion; only the intricate chandelier caused Danny to think the place must have once been grand.

Dumbledore motioned for Danny to keep quiet and follow him as he found his way to the door at the end of the corridor.

When Danny walked through the door after the older wizard, he didn't know what to expect, however what he wasn't expecting was a bone-crushing hug. After he was released he realized his assailant was a rather plump but kindly looking woman with ginger hair.

"Oh, I apologize; I thought you were Harry for a second. You could be his doppelganger except for the eyes, but I must be too worried about him. Anyway you must be Danny." said the slightly embarrassed woman.

"Uh yeah that's me." Danny replied weakly

He was feeling quite overwhelmed. This woman reminded Danny of his sister, with her orange hair, and his father, with the same overly enthusiastic behavior. He would never see them again and it was HIS fault.

As Danny was starting to hyperventilate he was saved by Dumbledore,

"If you don't mind Molly, I would like to show Danny to his lodgings with Ronald. You can speak with him later at dinner and perhaps the meeting?"

"Certainly Dumbledore. Nice to meet you Danny, I'll see you in a bit."

Dumbledore and Danny left her in the kitchen and headed off to the room that Danny would share with Ron and Harry. As they made their way up to the second floor it was even harder to see and Danny turned his eyes into the glowing, ectoplasmic green of his ghost form to compensate. They cast an eerie glow over the surrounding area but they made it easier to see where they were going. It wouldn't be pleasant to fall down this set of stairs.

"Who was that?" Danny questioned Dumbledore.

"That was Molly Weasley. You will be staying with her and her family, along with Ms. Granger and Mr. Potter, until it's time for you to head off to Hogwarts. All of them, except the adults of course, go there as well."

"Whoa, how many of these people go to Hogwarts?" Danny continued to interrogate Dumbledore. It was a good way for him to calm himself down, to focus on something else.

"Mrs. Weasley's children Fred, George, Ron and Ginny are attending this year. Also Harry Potter and Hermione Granger, who are close family friends." Dumbledore answered as they made their way through the ancient house.

"Are any of them in my grade?" Danny further probed for information

"Yes, Harry, Ron, and Hermione are in your _year_." Dumbledore corrected kindly

"And what _year _is that?" replied Danny in a slightly sarcastic tone

"5th out of 7. And Mr. Fenton, here we are. I know that you probably have many more questions, but I must be going, so please direct them to anyone staying here. Goodnight Danny, and good luck." Dumbledore finished the last bit as he started walking down the stairs, but Danny caught it.

"I'm going to need it." muttered Danny as he knocked on the door which Dumbledore left him at, the last thing he needed to do was walk in on his new roommate. He also made sure to revert his eyes to their usual blue. Normal people didn't have glowing green eyes.

Just then the door opened; revealing a tall, thin, freckled and redheaded teenager who appeared to be around the same age as Danny.

"Hello," he greeted in friendly but guarded way "you must be Danny."

"Yeah that's me." Danny replied a little awkwardly, he was still standing in the doorway with his things.

"Oh yeah, I'm Ron, Ron Weasley." and Ron, finally realizing the situation stepped aside to allow Danny in.

Unsurprisingly Danny noticed that this room had just about as much charm as the rest of the house. It was dank and dark and the paint on the walls was peeling. He also got the distinct feeling that he was being watched, and had to suppress the urge to light up his eyes again to get a better look at the room.

Even in the minimal light, Danny could see that 3 beds had been set up. Figuring one of the two that were currently unoccupied was for him; he took the one in the corner and set his stuff down.

"Hermione was about to come here so we could wait for Harry together. We have to stay up here because all the Order members are going to start showing up soon." Ron spoke, after several moments of standing in an awkward silence.

"What is the 'Order' anyway?" Danny asked in response to Ron's statement.

"I can't explain it right, you should ask Hermione." replied Ron as an embarrassed blush swept across his freckled cheeks.

"Whatever it is you definitely shouldn't ask Ron. You must be Danny, I'm Hermione, nice to meet you." came the voice of the bushy haired girl who had just walked in the door.

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**Liek OMFGASDFGHJKL!1!one!11! it's a button. I DARE you to press it and write a review. Now you HAVE to do it! Remember your LIFE depends on it.**


	4. Think Happy Thoughts

Chapter 4: Think Happy Thoughts

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**A/N: Well Yami-Echo wins; she found where the chapter titles are from. Also to my lovely readers I must apologize for a few things: **

**Plot is currently on vacation and will return after Prologue picks him up from the airport**

**I'm a sporadic updater**

**There is no prize for winning**

**The random chapter length. I'm trying to end at the right parts so these chapters don't become massive. The last chapter was supposed to be that chapter, this chapter and the next chapter. That would have been crazy.**

**Also, there **_**is**_** a plot but I'm open to suggestions. Enjoy!**

**Thanks to my awesome, smart, drugged up (just kidding) beta, Unnatural Disaster. My lack of punctuation skills almost killed her, but she's okay now.**

**Disclaimer: Well DP is Butch Hartman's, HP is J.K. Rowling's, chapter titles are My Chemical Romance's and the story is mine.**

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"Uh, yeah that's me," Danny said awkwardly as he nervously rubbed the back of his neck.

"So, are you from America?" asked Hermione. Dumbledore hadn't explained much about Danny, just the fact that he was new to the wizarding world and would be living with them until the start of term.

"Yeah I'm from Amity Park, it's a pretty small town, you've probably never heard of it," Danny explained.

"Oh, I've heard of it. It's the ghost capital of the world! Although, I didn't believe the reports until I started attending Hogwarts. I didn't believe ghosts existed then," Hermione informed Danny.

"What changed your mind?" asked Danny curiously.

"After I saw the ghosts at Hogwarts, I started believing. Especially Peeves." At the last part Hermione frowned.

"Hogwarts has ghosts?" Danny was genuinely surprised, but then he felt rather stupid. He should have realized that he couldn't escape from ghosts just by moving to a different country.

"Yeah, but most of them are harmless. The only ones you need to look out for are the Bloody Baron and Peeves the Poltergeist," Ron answered and smirked after seeing he had upset Hermione by answering for her.

"Poltergeist?" asked Danny confusedly, he only knew of two types of ghosts: full ghosts and halfas, like himself.

"A Poltergeist is a chaotic spirit which is similar to a ghost. The main difference is that poltergeists can typically move objects and people with physical force, and a Poltergeist was never a living human," explained Hermione, who was looking quite pleased that Ron hadn't butted in this time.

"That sounds like most of the ghosts that terrorized my home town," Danny responded sourly.

"It must be scary to be constantly in danger from ghost attacks,," Hermione thought out loud.

"It's not that bad, my parents a- were ghost hunters," Danny replied seeming amused at first, but as he corrected himself Hermione noticed the haunted look in his eyes. She knew he was about to say 'are' but something must have happened to his parents- recently. She decided to change the subject.

"You must have a ton of questions about our world, so feel free to ask away," Hermione provided before Ron could further the other conversation. He probably hadn't even noticed Danny's correction.

"Yeah, I do have a lot of questions for you guys. First off, what's it like at Hogwarts?"

This was something Danny had been dying to know, he had never been to a boarding school before and most certainly not a magical one.

"It's, well… magical," Hermione smiled at her choice of words, "I guess that doesn't really help you much, but you really need to see it to believe it."

"I guess so, but what sort of subjects do they teach?" Hermione's answer only made Danny anticipate the start of term even more and he was determined to get as much information as he could about the place. He _had_ missed about four years at the school.

"Defense Against the Dark Arts, Charms, Transfiguration, Potions, Herbology, History of Magic, and Astronomy are classes that everyone has to take," Ron answered his question.

After seeing Danny's highly confused face Hermione clarified for him, "Defense Against the Dark Arts is learning spells to use to protect ourselves from evil magic, Charms is just basic, everyday spells, Transfiguration is used for changing the appearance of an object, in Potions we learn to make, well, potions, Herbology is the study of magical plants, History of Magic is, exactly that, history and Astronomy is the same as in the muggle world, just studying the stars."

Her answer had explained what had confused him but he couldn't help but wonder, 'Does that girl ever have to breathe?'

"Well, is there anything else that I should know about Hogwarts?" Danny wanted to know as much as possible before he got there.

"Yeah, there are a lot of things you need to know, but the most important being that the school is split into four houses based on the students' personality traits. The houses are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Supposedly those who are brave and chivalrous are sorted into Gryffindor, those who are kind and believe in fair play are sorted into Hufflepuff, those who are smart and creative are sorted into Ravenclaw and those who are cunning and ambitious are sorted into Slytherin. All the Weasley's, Harry and I are in Gryffindor." Hermione explained and tried not to be prejudiced- but of course that wouldn't stop Ron.

"Most dark wizards were in Slytherin!" Ron announced. He just couldn't help himself.

"Is that true?" Danny asked.

"Unfortunately, yes, but most Slytherins we know are just bullies." Hermione answered before Ron, he tended to exaggerate things.

'Note to self: Don't be sorted into Slytherin', thought Danny

"You-Know-Who was in Slytherin!" Ron blurted out. He was starting to like Danny; he wanted to emphasize how bad Slytherin really is. He didn't realize that Danny wouldn't know who 'You-Know-Who' was though.

"I'm afraid I don't know who." Danny replied sarcastically. At least his witty remarks were still there-somewhere.

"Ron means V-Voldemort," Hermione explained after shooting Ron a glare that clearly stated 'How could you be so stupid? Of course he doesn't know about You-Know-Who'.

This caused Ron's face to flush with embarrassment.

"Nice name," Danny laughed; the guy's name sounded like a type of mold to him, "Why are you guys afraid to say it?"

"He's the most evil dark wizard in history. He murdered and tortured thousands of wizards and muggles," Hermione answered darkly, "That's what the Order of the Phoenix is for, to bring him and his supporters down."

"I can see why there's an organization formed to fight against him." Danny's joking mood was gone, this man reminded him all too much of another evil mass murderer.

"Yeah the Order will attempt to stop him at all costs." Ron continued.

"Is this where all the members meet?" Danny asked.

"Yeah, they're going to have a meeting when the rest of the Order comes back with Harry," Ron supplied.

"When will they be back?" Danny asked. He wanted to see if there was something he could help the Order with, as a human or ghost. His hero complex was showing.

"They should be here any minute now," as Hermione said this, Danny heard the doorknob turn. Apparently Hermione had as well because she immediately squealed and ran towards the door.

As the door burst open, Danny caught a glimpse of a skinny boy with black hair and glasses, who looked remarkably like himself, before he was obscured from view by a very eager Hermione.

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**Sorry about this fluffy explanation chapter, they annoy me too, but I had to write it sometime.**

**You will review this chapter… You will review this chapter… You will review this chapter…**


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